Jasmin Glaesser Olympics cycling Q&A

On her German roots, training and her golden Olympic goal

By Elliott Pap, Vancouver SunJuly 17, 2012

I got into my sport because I had some injuries when I was a runner in high school at Terry Fox secondary and cycling presented an option for lower impact sports to train and compete. The injuries were issues with my hip joints due to over-use and stuff so I really needed to find a sport that was a bit more gentle on my body.

Other sports I tried growing up were ballet, which I did for five years, and then figure skating for another four or five years. I always had fun doing sports, but I didn't quite seem to be serious about any of them. I wasn't graceful and I didn't have great coordination.

My family moved to Canada from Germany when I was eight because my dad got a job at Simon Fraser University teaching computer science. So that enticed him to move over.

Learning the English language was definitely a little bit of a battle for me at first. I had a very limited vocabulary when I came over but when you're younger, you pick up on things really fast. Canada is such a welcoming place so it was really easy to integrate.

A typical training day for me leading up to the Olympics is going to our training centre in Los Angeles, usually in the morning, to do some high intensity and high-speed efforts.

We work on power, obviously, but also on technique. So we do that in the morning, then recover a little bit, then we do a ride in the afternoon on the road as a little bit more for endurance. In the evening, after everything else is done, I'll usually do yoga as well. It's like a full-time job training for the Olympics. As a cyclist, recovery is very important so that takes up quite a bit of time as well.

The best thing that's ever happened to me because I'm an athlete is, I think, that it brings the best out in people. The support that you get as an athlete from friends and family is a really cool thing to see. You're able to see them take joy in your accomplishments and kind of be part of your success. I think it's always a really rewarding experience for me when I get to see them be proud and feel like they're part of my journey as well.

My last meal before a race, although I like to try a variety of things, there has to be some peanut butter somewhere. On bread or crackers or oatmeal.

When I'm not competing or training, I like to relax by doing yoga. I'm a big fan of yoga. I'm also studying computer science part-time at Simon Fraser. When I'm at home, I really like to be outside snowshoeing or hiking, and doing things like that. B.C. has so much to offer.

Other sports I like to follow, being from Canada obviously, hockey is a big one, although the Canucks didn't present that much this past year for me to follow. I can't wait to check out some of the sports when I get to London. I'm looking forward to seeing gymnastics and rowing and some track and field.

The last book I read wasOpen, the biography of Andre Agassi, the tennis player. Although that's a completely different sport, I think it was a great book.

My celebrity crush is, well, I don't know if they are celebrities but there are some good-looking bike racers out there. But I won't drop any names.

My Olympics will be a success if, seeing how the season has gone, we win a medal. Anything but a medal would be a little bit of a disappointment for us. I mean, that's a tall order but I really think we have the potential and that's our goal. So that's what we're shooting for and I think we can make it happen.

Of note: 2011 world champion and 2012 silver medallist won the 2010-11 World Cup title.

GILLIAN CARLETON

Birthdate: Dec. 3, 1989

Hometown: Victoria

Discipline: Track cycling

Event: Team pursuit

Of note: Won bronze in team pursuit at the 2012 world championships.

Twitter.com/gilliancarleton

JASMIN GLAESSER

Birthdate: July 8, 1992

Hometown: Coquitlam

Discipline: Track cycling

Event: Team pursuit

Of note: Won bronze in team pursuit at the 2012 world championships.

Twitter.com/jasminglaesser

RYDER HESJEDAL

Birthdate: Dec. 9, 1980

Hometown: Victoria

Discipline: Road

Event: Road race, time trial

Of note: Won the famed Tour de Giro this year, becoming the first Canadian to do so. He finished sixth at the 2010 Tour de France.

Twitter.com/ryder_hesjedal

GEOFF KABUSH

Birthdate: April 14, 1977

Hometown: Comox

Discipline: Mountain bike

Event: Cross-country

Of note: The veteran of two previous Olympic Games placed in the top 10 at the 2011 world championships.

Twitter.com/GeoffKabush

CATHARINE PENDREL

Birthdate: Sept. 30, 1980

Hometown: Kamloops

Discipline: Mountain bike

Event: Cross-country

Of note: The 2011 world champion has won multiple World Cup medals - including gold at the test event at the Olympic venue -and was fourth at the Beijing Games in 2008.

Twitter.com/cpendrel

MAX PLAXTON

Birthdate: May 29, 1985

Hometown: Tofino

Discipline: Mountain bike

Event: Cross-country

Of note: Won silver at the 2011 Pan American Games.

Twitter.com/maxplaxton

TORY NYHAUG

Birthdate: April 17, 1992

Hometown: Coquitlam

Discipline: BMX

Of note: Ranked fifth in the world, Nyhaug will be competing for the first time since having his spleen removed following a crash in May.

Twitter.com/tnyhaug49

• ABOUT CYCLING (July 28 to Aug. 12):

• The sport of cycling first made its Olympic debut at the 1896 Games - the first of the modern era - with track cycling.

• Road cycling was kept out of the Olympics from 1900 through to 1908, but was introduced to the program in 1912.

• Cycling includes four disciplines: road, track, mountain biking and BMX. Mountain biking made its Olympic debut at the 1996 Atlanta Games, while BMX was introduced at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

• Between the four disciplines, there are 528 competitors in cycling - 331 men and 197 women.

• Great Britain dominated track cycling at the Beijing Olympics four years ago, laying claim to 12 medals, including seven gold.

• There are 10 medal events in track cycling: keirin, sprint, omnium, Team Pursuit and Team Sprint for men and women.

• Road cycling includes four medal events - a men's and women's race, and men's and women's time trials.

• Canadian Olympian Clara Hughes is a double-bronze medallist in road cycling from the 1996 Atlanta Games. She has also competed in speeding skating at the Winter Olympics for Canada. She is the only Olympic athlete to win multiple medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

• There are two medal events in mountain biking, one for men's cross-country and one for women. The track, according to www.london2012.com, is 4.7 kilometres long with 172 metres of elevation on each lap.

• BMX races are expected to last at least 40 seconds, according to www.london2012.com, and riders will begin on top of an eightmetre high starting platform.

• France and Latvia each took home a gold medal in BMX in 2008, while the U.S. finished the competition with the most medals in the event, one silver and two bronze.

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